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Snapchat weighs what was once unthinkable — permanent snaps

NEW YORK — Snap Inc. is considering changes to its Snapchat app, known for disappearing photos and videos, that could make users’ public posts longer lasting or even permanent, people familiar with the matter said.
The company is also weighing an option to reveal the identities of Snapchat users who make public posts, a person familiar with Snap’s plans said.
Together the changes would mark a big step in Snap’s effort to lure and keep users by making content shared publicly via the “Our Story” section, more available outside Snapchat. They could also create a new revenue source for money-losing Snap, which has seen its user base shrink and executives flee the company.
But such changes to Snapchat, which launched in 2011 and became an instant hit among teenagers and millennials, could trigger backlash from users who cherish their privacy, especially as rival Facebook Inc. has been plagued by scandals over how it handles user data.
Snap is carefully weighing the privacy, technical and legal considerations of revealing user identities on public posts, said the person familiar with Snap’s plans.
Only Snapchat photo and video content shared to “Our Story”, which shares the snaps publicly to a wider audience and not just a user’s friends, would be affected and users would still have the option of deleting those stories, said the person.
Snap has already extended the shelf life of public stories, but making them last even longer or revealing more about the users who create them would be a further departure from Snapchat’s hallmark features.
Snap declined to comment.
The changes would come in response to feedback from Snap’s four partnerships with news discovery platforms that help media companies spot, analyze and republish public breaking news content on Snapchat, sources said. Reuters is a customer of SAM Desk and NewsWhip, two of the news discovery platforms.
The news partnerships are part of Snap’s “Stories Everywhere” initiative, launched last year to push content to more places outside Snapchat.
Snap announced the partnerships last year and will sign four more deals in the near future, said the person familiar with Snap’s plans.
Initially, public stories would disappear after 30 days but now remain viewable for 90 days, according to Snap’s support website.
Some partners have said that the disappearing and anonymous nature of public stories makes them difficult to work with, the sources said.
Some news organizations will not embed Snapchat stories into articles because the content eventually disappears, while others will not use them because they are unable to verify anonymous users’ Snapchat videos.
One source familiar with the news partnership said Snap is already talking with one partner about making public posts last even longer and to make some content from celebrities permanent.
LUCRATIVE BUSINESS
Snap’s stock has been under pressure as investors question the company’s plan to reach profitability. Snap shares on Friday closed some 60% below their March 2017 initial public offering price.
Making user content more valuable for partners has helped boost revenue at Snap’s rivals.
Twitter Inc. was one of the first social media platforms to sell access to public posts or tweets and reported $108 million in third-quarter revenue from non-advertising businesses like data licensing, its fastest-growing division.
Twitter sells access to more than 500 million daily tweets to customers including analytics firms, news organizations and financial institutions that use trending tickers and stories to place trades.
Snap does not currently charge for access to public data, but could earn more advertising revenue if snaps embedded outside of Snapchat last longer, said Debra Aho Williamson, a social media marketing analyst with research firm eMarketer.
“The advertising would be visible for longer, and I could see advertisers paying more for it,” Ms. Williamson said.
Facebook, viewed as a rival to Twitter in the data licensing market, recently implemented strict restrictions that have in turn made Snap’s content more valuable, industry sources said.
Snapchat’s video-heavy posts also offer elements that Twitter and Facebook’s largely text content cannot, especially in breaking news events, one of the sources said. — Reuters

Racaza resigns from Xurpas

XURPAS, Inc. has named Alexander D. Corpuz its new president, replacing Raymond Gerard S. Racaza who resigned from his role as president, chief executive officer and director of the company.
The listed firm made the announcement to the stock exchange on Wednesday, adding the chief executive officer position is yet to be filled up. Mr. Corpuz is being promoted from his former role as chief finance officer and chief information officer of Xurpas.
Mr. Racaza, who cited “personal reasons” for leaving his posts, will remain a principal shareholder of the company with 20% stake.
“I would like to thank Raymond for his almost two decades of service to the company: First as a co-founder… then as COO, and most recently, as our President and CEO. His dedication and contribution to the firm are immeasurable,” Xurpas Chairman Nico Jose S. Nolledo said in a statement.
Mr. Nolledo was the former chief executive officer of Xurpas until he stepped down in July 2018 to focus on the company’s wholly-owned blockchain subsidiary ODX Pte. Ltd.
Xurpas registered losses last year, as its mobile consumer business suffered. For the first nine months of 2018, the company posted an attributable net loss of P184.387 million, from a net income of P81.190 in the same period in 2017.
The company saw a 48% decline in total revenues to P869.103 million, mostly from an 80% fall in mobile consumer services revenues to P230.64 million.
In the same statement, Xurpas said it is tapping Primeiro Partners to be its financial advisor that will provide strategic and financial advisory services.
On its website, Primeiro Partners said among its services for strategic and financial advisory are providing operational advice, acquisition and merger advice, sales support, financial modelling and staff support.
“Primeiro Partners is a leading regional advisory firm, with deep expertise in identifying strategic options for its clients. We are excited to be working with them to chart the next phase in our company’s story,” Mr. Nolledo said in the statement. — Denise A. Valdez

GSIS sees depletion in fund life due to pending bill

THE GOVERNMENT Service Insurance System (GSIS) said its fund life will be depleted by 12 years should the government enact a bill pending in Congress lowering the optional retirement age for government employees to 56 years.
In a press conference on Wednesday, the state pension fund said its fund life will be reduced by 12 years to last until 2039 from the current 2051 if the optional retirement age of state workers will be lowered to 56 years from the current 60 years.
GSIS President and General Manager Jesus Clint O. Aranas said the only viable option to reconcile the intent of the legislature and the health of its fund life is to apply the proposed optional retirement age prospectively.
“The new members…can have this package. The old pensioners should not be made to suffer the challenges, because as studies would show, it will reduce the fund life of GSIS,” Mr. Aranas told reporters yesterday.
To sustain its fund life, the pension fund will need an additional reserve requirement of P176.36 billion, he said.
The lower house in November approved a bill which seeks to lower the optional retirement age for government workers to 56 years.
The substitute bill will amend Republic Act No. 8291 or The Government Service Insurance System Act of 1997, which currently grants employees an option to retire at 60.
“These civil servants dedicate 20, 30 years of their lives in the service of the nation. It is high time that the government heed their clamor for the option to retire at an earlier age in order for them to enjoy their retirement benefits for as long as possible,” said ACT Teachers Representative Antonio L. Tinio, who also principally wrote the bill.
A similar bill filed by Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian is also pending at the Senate Committee on Government Corporations and Public Enterprises as of January 2017. Senate Bill 1289, which was filed on Dec. 15, 2016, seeks to lower the compulsory retirement age of government employees to 55 years old.
“The pension of a government worker is his job security… It is very important that the government employee knows that he has a solid pension…when he does retire at the end of the day,” Mr. Aranas said yesterday.
He added that other alternatives of the GSIS are to increase the members’ contribution rate and to introduce a decrease in benefits, although both alternatives “will not be welcomed.”
If these options are not considered, the pension fund president said GSIS will “have to bite the bullet” and face the reduction in their fund life of 12 years. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Potential cyber attack could cause $85B-$193B in damage

A COORDINATED global cyber attack, spread through malicious e-mail, could cause economic damages anywhere between $85 billion and $193 billion, a hypothetical scenario developed as a stress test for risk management showed.
Insurance claims after such an attack would range from business interruption and cyber extortion to incident response costs, the report jointly produced by insurance market Lloyd’s of London and Aon said on Tuesday.
Total claims paid by the insurance sector in this scenario is estimated to be between $10 billion and $27 billion, based on policy limits ranging from $500,000 to $200 million.
The stark difference between insured and economic loss estimates highlights the extent of underinsurance, in case of such an attack, the stress test showed. An attack could affect several sectors globally, with the largest losses in retail, health care, manufacturing and banking fields.
Regional economies that are more service dominated, especially the United States and Europe, would suffer more and are vulnerable to higher direct losses, the report said.
Cyber attacks have been in focus after a virus spread from here Ukraine to wreak havoc around the globe in 2017, crippling thousands of computers, disrupting ports from Mumbai to Los Angeles and even halting production at a chocolate factory in Australia.
Governments are increasingly warning against the risks private businesses face from such attacks, both those carried out by foreign governments and financially motivated criminals.
For example, Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre announced on Friday it was investigating a large-scale Domain Name System (DNS) hijacking campaign that hit governments and commercial organizations across the world.
In another recent incident, French engineering consultancy Altran Technologies was the target of a cyber attack that hit its operations in some European countries.
On a larger scale, personal data and documents from hundreds of German politicians and public figures, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, were published online in what appears to be one of Germany’s most far-reaching data breaches.
The report was also co-produced by MSIG, SCOR TransRe and Cyber Risk Management (CyRiM). — Reuters

What are you doin’ on Chinese New Year’s Eve?


MAKATI/TAGUIG
The Peninsula Manila greets the Year of the Pig with a traditional lion and dragon dance at The Lobby of The Peninsula Manila on Feb. 5, 10:30 a.m. to noon. Dine on the Lucky Three-Course Lunch and Dinner Specials — Crispy five spice pork belly with pan-seared radish cake and long beans, and Salted egg prawns with ginger bok choy, and Vegetable fried rice — from Feb. 4 to 6, for lunch at 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and for dinner from 6 to 11 p.m. for P2,150.
Makati Shangri-La Hotel’s guests can bring home good luck and prosperity with Shang Palace’s signature Nian Gao, or tikoy as it is known in the Philippines. These freshly made treats are available in the following flavors: Traditional, Mango, and flavor, Almond, and come individually wrapped in gift boxes. A one-piece Prosperity Fish box is priced at P1,888 net and a two-piece Happiness Fish box is P2,888 net. Guests may also bring home other classic treats and sweets, such as the eight-piece Longevity Cookies (in walnut and ube flavor) at P988 net; or a basket of their choice of goodies from an array of items available at Shang Palace’s boutique. The Abundance Basket is priced at P9,888 net. The hotel rings in the festive season with a roaring lion and dragon dance and firecracker ceremony at the lobby driveway on Chinese New Year Day, Feb. 5, at 12:30 p.m. One can celebrate with the family at Shang Palace. For lunch on Feb. 4, there will be a regular Dim Sum Plus priced at P988++; for lunch on Feb. 5, there will be a Festive Dim Sum Plus feast priced at P1,888++. For dinner on both days, there are special Chinese New Year set menus: the Gold menu is P2,888++, the Jade menu isP3,888++, and the Diamond menu is P6,688++. For details call 814-2580 or send an e-mail to rric.slm@shangri-la.com.
New World Hotel Makati welcomes the Year of the Earth Pig with traditional Chinese New Year favorites prepared by award-winning Jasmine’s Chinese executive chef Wong Kam On, including Roasted suckling pig, Steamed live garoupa, handmade dumplings, and many more. Festive set menus at Jasmine start at P13,888 from Feb. 1 to 10 while a limited ala carte menu will be offered from Feb. 3 to 6. A Yum Cha lunch is also available at P1,688 per person with unlimited chilled juices, soda, and local beer. The Chinese New Year celebration will be held on Feb. 5 at 12:30 p.m. featuring a traditional eye-dotting ceremony followed by a dragon and lion dance. One can also welcome the Year of the Earth Pig with auspicious tikoy (nian gao) from Jasmine. The tikoy comes in round (P1,188) and koi (P1,388) shapes, packaged to bring luck and prosperity to the recipient. Jasmine’s tikoy is available until Feb. 8. Get a special discount of 30% when you order in bulk, with a minimum purchase of 25 boxes. For details call 811-6888 ext. 3679.
Holiday Inn & Suites Makati celebrates the Chinese Lunar Year with a Chinese Food Festival all weekends of the month of February at Flavors Restaurant. Starting on Feb. 1, enjoy the delicacies of the Hunan, Canton, and Sichuan regions. Each weekend will highlight the cuisine of one region beginning with Hunan. The weekend lunch and dinner buffet at Flavors starts at P1,675 nett. On Feb. 5, welcome the Year of the Boar with the traditional Lion & Dragon dance and eye dotting ceremony to usher in prosperity. This is to be followed by the annual Spring Salad Toss at Flavors Restaurant where all guests are welcome to join. For details call 909-0888.
Shangri-La at The Fort’s Canton Road restaurant features a sumptuous spread of regional Chinese specialties prepared by Executive Chinese Chef Wang Wei Qing. The Pun Choi, a signature dish, headlines this year’s special menu offerings. Also known as “basin food,” Pun Choi is a classic made of different ingredients meticulously layered into a bowl. Alongside it is the traditional Norwegian salmon Yee Sang or “Prosperity Toss,” and suckling pig stuffed with glutinous rice. The Happiness menu is priced at P29,888 nett, P32,888 nett for the Abundance menu, and P38,888 nett for the Wealth menu. These special menus are for a table of 10 persons and are inclusive of a non-alcoholic beverage package. There are also eight private dining rooms, the biggest of which can seat up to 28 guests at a time. Learn the art of dimsum making as Canton Road holds two-hour dim sum making classes on Feb. 2, 7, 9, 14, and 16 from 10 a.m. to noon. The class includes a dim sum feast at one of the restaurant’s private dining rooms. The dim sum experience is priced at P2,988 nett for adults ages 18 years old and above, P1,888 nett for children ages eight to 17 years old. For inquiries and reservations, call 820-0888 or e-mail cantonroad@shangri-la.com.
ORTIGAS CENTER
Marco Polo Ortigas Manila welcomes the coming of the Earth Pig with Feng Shui Master Joseph Chau on Chinese New Year, Feb. 5, 11 a.m., at the hotel’s ground floor lobby. Mr. Chau will be facilitating a Taoist Ritual Blessing Ceremony to guests attending the event. This will be followed by the dragon and lion dance. The hotel also offers guests the opportunity to share their blessings through the gift of nian gao (tikoy). This year’s selection, available through Lung Hin, sees this traditional delicacy take the form of a gold bar and the round variant, both of which come in either brown sugar or orange flavors. These nian gao are available starting at P798. For more information, call 720-7720 or e-mail restaurant.mnl@marcopolohotels.com.
MANILA
Century Park Hotel is set to welcome the Year of the Earth Pig with a bang on the eve of the Lunar New Year on Feb. 4. Sumptuous Chinese dishes will be showcased at the lunch and dinner buffet (P1,495 net) at Café in the Park. Then at 7 p.m., an eye-dotting blessing ceremony will take place before the lion’s first dance at the Atrium Lounge. The ritual will empower the lion to bring about protection, good luck, health, and prosperity to the attendees. A lion and dragon dance follows right after to chase away evil spirits and welcome the new year. This performance will be accompanied with loud drums and cymbals. A fireworks display will cap off the occasion.
The Manila Hotel celebrates the arrival of the Year of the Pig by transforming its Main Lobby into a modern Prosperity Garden thanks to Rachy Cuna. Two flavors of pig-shaped tikoy — pandan and white sugar — are on sale at The Lobby until Feb. 6. The traditional Chinese New Year festivities start at 10:15 a.m. on Feb. 5 with a Dotting the Eye Ceremony at the main entrance followed by a Lion Dance performed by the Golden Lion dancers. At Red Jade, two set menus of 10 dishes each will be available from Feb. 3 to 6 for both lunch and dinner. More festive dishes will grace the Chinese station at Café Ilang Ilang for New Year’s Eve dinner on Feb. 4, and New Year’s Day lunch on Feb. 5. For queries and reservations, call 527-0011.
New World Manila Bay Hotel’s Market Café will be offering classic Chinese dishes along with a spread of international dishes on Feb. 4 and 5. These include Cantonese noodles, dim sum, sizzling Szechuan specialties, BBQ favorites, and traditional Chinese desserts. The buffet is priced at P2,800 including free flowing sodas, iced tea, chilled juices, local beer, coffee and tea. Over at Li Li, set menus will be offered for the occasion featuring Cantonese specialties such as braised pork knuckle, wok-fried tiger prawn, and bird’s nest soup with rates starting at P2,688 per person. Guests can also purchase a box of pig-shaped nian gao (tikoy) from Li Li until Feb. 5. The gift box is priced at P1,088.
The Diamond Hotel guests can explore the tastes and flavors of Chinese cuisine at Corniche from Feb. 2-5 for P2,880 nett per person featuring the specialties of the hotel’s Chinese chef Yang Yong. A minimum spend of P5,000 entitles guests to Pick-A-Prize for a chance to win gift certificates from the hotel and more. On Feb. 5, get a free 10-minute Feng Shui consultation by Angel Macalino for a minimum spend of P5,000 at the Corniche lunch buffet. Also, catch the Dragon and Lion dance by the Philippine Ling Nam Athletic Federation and the performance of Chinese instrumental music by Kim Hwa Ensemble. Lucky charms available for sale at the hotel lobby. For details call 528-3000 or e-mail guestservices@diamondhotel.com.
PASAY CITY/PARAÑAQUE/MUNTINLUPA
Crimson Hotel Filinvest City, Manila’s festive Chinese New Year celebration runs from Feb. 1 to 10. These include Café Eight’s A Feast for Prosperity buffet that will include a selection of Chinese cuisine for P1,550 net per person. Café Eight will also have a Dumpling Festival in both the buffet’s dumpling station and a la carte menu. On Feb. 10, Feng Shui Master Joseph Chau will conduct a welcome ceremony and shares the 2019 predictions. The traditional eye-dotting ceremony and lion and dragon dance will be held at the hotel’s lobby. Guests who avail of the Sunday brunch buffet at Café Eight that day will have a chance to attend Master Chau’s 2019 Chinese forecast. For details visit www.crimsonhotel.com/manila/.
City of Dreams Manila’s Crystal Dragon is offering specialty menus — available lunch at noon to 3 p.m., and dinner from 6 to 11 p.m. until Feb. 9— which highlight the traditional “Yu Sheng” salad with a fruity twist. These are the Prosperity Abalone Yu Sheng with Fruit Salad (medium, P1,350++; large, P2,700++) and the Shredded Roasted Duck with Fresh Fruit Salad with dressing (medium, P1,280++; large, P2,380++). Crystal Dragon also showcases a Poon Choi menu which consists of Stewed abalone Poon Choi Cantonese-style (P6,500++), and Stewed tiger prawn Poon Choi Cantonese-style (P3,500++). There are also two set menus good for a minimum of five persons: The six-course Happiness Set Menu (P3,880++ per person) and the seven-course Magnificent Set Menu (P6,880++ per person). Both are served with variations of the Yu Sheng salad and Poon Choi, among other dishes. There is also a special a la carte menu for the occasion. Meanwhile, the Lunar Festive Menu is available for the whole month of February at Red Ginger. A Mini Yu Sheng (P188++) will be available from Feb. 5 to 7, and as a special offer, the Mini Yu Sheng can be availed of for only P128++ if the guest orders a dish from the Festive Lunar Menu. Over at the Activity Area in front of Café Society, from Feb. 8 to 10, fortune tellers will help guests chart their destiny from 3 to 8 p.m., and the God of Fortune mascot will make an appearance from 2:30 to 8 p.m. Cultural dancers will perform at 4:20 and 6:25 p.m. For details visit www.cityofdreamsmanila.com.
Marriott Manila celebrates the Lunar New Year with the traditional Poon Choi “big bowl feast” (good for eight to 12 persons) from Feb. 1 to 6 at Man Ho for P18,880 nett. Also available is Lohei, a raw fish salad tossed with vegetables (P2,200++), and stuffed chicken filled with sticky rice and lotus seed (P2,588++). Finally, there is the sticky rice cake nian gao, locally known as tikoy, molded as a koi fish enclosed in an oriental gift box, which is available for P1,888 nett until Feb. 15. For details visit www.manilamarriott.com.
Conrad Manila’s award-winning Chinese restaurant China Blue by Jereme Leung welcomes the new Lunar Year of the Earth Pig with Executive Chinese Chef Eng Yew Khor’s interpretations of authentic Chinese clay pot rice dishes, set menus, and nian gao (tikoy), available until Feb. 5. The nian gao is available in four flavors — almond, passion fruit, yuzu jelly, and red bean — shaped like a koi fish or mini gold bar, in a box of eight pieces at P1,500 net. For details visit www.conradmanila.com, or call 833-9999.
Resorts World Manila’s Lucky Tikoy is a set of eight miniature of koi and gold ingots presented in an oriental gift box is available at the Passion Cantonese Restaurant at Maxims Hotel, Resorts World Manila, until Feb. 5. Passion has a dimsum lunch buffet and Lucky Delights, for the whole month of February. Café Maxims offers a box of dark chocolate pralines filled with lotus paste and coated with an earth pig print. An authentic ceremonial lion and dragon dance will be performed on Feb. 6, 10 a.m., at the Garden Wing Casino Main Entrance by the Ling Nam Athletic Association. RWM VIPs will be treated to an exclusive Yee Sang Prosperity Toss on Feb. 15 at the Marriott Grand Ballroom.

Accenture ramps up digital transformation

PROFESSIONAL services company Accenture aims to be more aggressive in its transformation to new technologies this year as it completes moving 60% of its business to innovative platforms and processes.
Accenture Philippines Country Managing Director Lito T. Tayag said in a press conference in Taguig City on Wednesday the global Accenture group is keen on becoming a leader in “pivoting to the new.”
“’The new’ is a high-level word for new technologies, new platforms, new processes… [T]his is about a part of our transformation. If we are transforming our business based on what is happening with the digital transformation, then we pivot all of Accenture’s business into the new as well,” he said.
“As of today… we have 60% now of our business in ‘the new’…. This is something we want to make sure that we are ahead of,” Mr. Tayag added.
Accenture noted some of its initiatives is the rebranding of its delivery centers to identify its two core businesses in the Philippines: Accenture Advanced Technology Centers and Accenture Intelligent Operations Centers.
The firm is also boosting its upskilling services to train its manpower, recording more than 2 million hours last year spent for online and classroom learning sessions.
“In the Philippines, we are undergoing our own transformation which is innovation-led. We have taken a lot of steps and these are our areas, the strengths of which we have anchored our innovation and our new initiatives,” Mr. Tayag said.
“(We) put in around 2 million hours of training… That gives you an indication of what kind of focus, what kind of investment we are making on our people,” he added.
The Philippine country managing director said it is important for Accenture to transform as fast as possible and be “ahead of the developments,” although he did not mention a target date for completing the business pivot.
“This is a focused effort on our part to be a leader in the new. That is how we are now. And the 60% articulates the fact that we are indeed leading and ahead of the pack as far as our pivoting our business to the new (is concerned),” Mr. Tayag noted. — Denise A. Valdez

Home Credit gets BSP green light to issue credit cards

NON-BANK FIRM Home Credit Philippines has secured a license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to offer credit cards to its clients, the first after a new law was passed opening the industry to new players.
The BSP made the announcement through Circular Letter 2019-008 issued on Friday, as signed by Sector-in-Charge Restituto C. Cruz of the Financial Supervision Sector.
The Monetary Board (MB) initially approved the license to operate as a credit issuer to HC Consumer Finance Philippines, Inc. (HCPH) last Oct. 25, while the corresponding certificate of authority was issued Nov. 21.
Based in Prague, Czech Republic before venturing to Manila, Home Credit offers in-store financing services for gadgets, appliances, and similar goods to unbanked customer and even to first-time borrowers.
“HCPH is the first stand-alone non-bank financial institution to apply for a credit card license acted upon by the MB pursuant to Republic Act (RA) No. 10870, otherwise known as An Act Regulating the Philippine Credit Card Industry…,” according to the BSP issuance.
Former President Benigno S.C. Aquino III signed the credit card industry law on July 27, 2015, which officially places credit card issuers under the central bank’s watch. The measure likewise opened the sector to new players.
Implementing rules drafted by the BSP last year sought to instill consumer protection protocols like the disclosure on the amount and the computation of fees and charges, safeguards against unfair collection practices, immediate posting of payments, confidentiality of consumer data, and the expeditious resolution of complaints.
Outstanding credit card loans reached P264.632 billion, up 22.2% year-on-year as of September 2018. Of this, problem debts stood at 5.4% of the total, lower than the 5.83% share a year ago.
In a previous interview, Home Credit said it is looking to expand its customer base by 70% this year by bringing more borrowers through online channels. The consumer finance firm expects a surge in new borrowers via their mobile app for gadget financing and pure cash loans.
The firm pledges loan approvals for in-store applications in less than 10 minutes, with fewer requirements compared to bank loan applicants.
Home Credit started with a client base of 100,000 in 2015. The figure has grown to 3.64 million as of Nov. 23, according to latest available data. Meanwhile, loan collectibles stood at P24.2 billion as of mid-December. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

Little Caesars returns to PHL

LITTLE CAESARS used to be a comforting sight in the streets of Manila, until as kids grew up, the branches of the pizza chain closed one by one. Now we can chase a little bit of the past with the reopening of Little Caesars in Ermita.
The disappearance of the chain “had nothing to do with the Philippines, or us not wanting to be here,” said Rebecca Smith, Head of Corporate Communications for Little Caesars Pizza International, over lunch last Saturday. “Our previous franchisee was an entrepreneur, and decided essentially to do other ventures.”
Today the franchise is held here by Palmtree PH Foods Corp., owned by American-born and Singapore-based James Kodrowski. As for the Little Caesars itself, it was founded by members of the Macedonian-American Ilitch family in Detroit back in the late 1950s. Their empire expanded to cover sports and entertainment, and matriarch Marian Ilitch is considered to be one of the world’s richest women.
Now Little Caesars is the world’s third largest pizza chain, boasting a presence in 24 countries with an unofficial store count of about 3,000. “Now, we’re this global company in 24 countries. Ultimately, because we’re privately owned, we can stay true to who we are,” said Ms. Smith.
She promises that “the taste [of the pizza] that you’re tasting in Detroit is going to be the same that you taste here.” But the menu here is a lot smaller with only about four choices: Hula Hawaiian, 3 Meat Treat, Ultimate Supreme, and Veggie. These all cost P370 at 12 inches. The pricing is more or less the same as in the US — one of Little Caesars’ bestselling pizzas are the $5 Pepperoni, which in the Philippines would cost P250. “We’re always trying to be the smarter choice, compared to other pizza brands,” said Ms. Smith.
To celebrate its opening, Little Caesars is giving away free pizzas. To join the #PizzaPizzaGiving promo, visit the store between Jan. 27 and Feb. 1, 2-3 p.m., and fill out a gift certificate to give to a loved one. The sender will receive a free single-serve pepperoni pizza at the time of their visit. The recipient can present the GC to claim their free 12” pepperoni pizza on or before April 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Little Caesars. — JLG

Peak video game? Analyst sees industry slumping in 2019

THE RISE OF video games has turned Fortnite into a social phenomenon, made esports a rival to the NFL for viewers, and grown button-mashing into a bigger money-maker than Hollywood. Now one veteran analyst is calling for the first industry downturn in a quarter century.
Video game revenue is headed for the first decline since 1995, with sales expected to fall by 1% to $136.5 billion this year, according to Pelham Smithers, owner of an eponymous London-based research firm. He blames China’s stricter approach to game approvals, a shortage of big console hits, and fatigue among players for battle-royale titles like Fortnite.
Mr. Smithers, who began covering the industry in the late 1980s, points to the recent sharp drop in stocks like Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Electronics Arts Inc. as proof that he’s right. He sees the drag lasting until at least 2020.
“The various bits of the jigsaw puzzle just don’t add up, so we’re looking for the market to shrink in 2019,” said Mr. Smithers. “The sell-off in video game stocks is primarily down to a growing realization of the risk that this view is right.”
Mr. Smithers is the first to admit it’s a risky call, with rival analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Nomura Holdings Inc. still seeing games as a growth-industry and Morgan Stanley remaining bullish. But he’s been right with similar calls before: He gave Nintendo Co. a ‘sell’ rating a decade ago, a contrarian call at the time that’s proven well founded.
Plus, he’s not alone this time: Research firm Newzoo recently trimmed its 2018 and 2019 revenue outlook by 2% to 3%, citing weakness in mobile games. This week, IDC said China’s games market growth slowed to 5% in 2018, after expanding about 20% a year since 2014.
“There is a lack of fresh, innovative blockbuster titles replacing the current, aging top titles,” Newzoo founder Peter Warman wrote in a blog post in November. “For the longer term, we are now more cautious about the global growth rate of the mobile games market.”
Besides Beijing’s crackdown, investors have been surprised by slower-than-expected sales of Nintendo’s Switch, regulatory scrutiny of game addiction and monetization practices like loot boxes, and uncertainty about the games pipeline at EA and Activision Blizzard Inc. Mr. Smithers predicts more weakness as the market adjusts to the new reality.
It’s not all doom-and-gloom. Mr. Smithers predicts that virtual reality-related revenue will double from $4 billion in 2018 to $8 billion by 2020. He’s turned bullish on Nintendo, which he says will benefit in the long-term from the industry’s shift to cloud gaming. And he’s excited about esports, taking one late-night phone call from a journalist in between watching qualifying matches for this year’s PUBG championship. — Bloomberg

More than $125B of really old money awaits Asia heirs

IT’S been a mournful start to 2019 for two of Asia’s richest families.
Eka Tjipta Widjaja, who began as a coconut and palm-oil trader at age 15 before building a multibillion-dollar empire in Indonesia, died Saturday at 98. A week earlier, Henry Sy, Sr. a shoe salesman who became the wealthiest man in the Philippines, died at 94. Their combined fortunes exceeded $16.5 billion.
It’s no coincidence that the world’s richest people are also some of the oldest as it can take a long time to amass extraordinary wealth. About a fifth of the 500 people on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index are at least 80 years old, and 21 are nonagenarians, including eight from Asia with a combined net worth of $125 billion. That’s setting the stage for one of the most concentrated transfers of wealth in history.
“More and more families are thinking of succession,” said Peng Qian, associate director of the Tanoto Center for Asian Family Business and Entrepreneurship Studies of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. “We expect huge demand from Asia’s richest for private wealth-management services in the next few years.”
When a billionaire dies, it can go at least two ways. An orderly split of assets or a battle royal among infighting heirs.
Mr. Sy attempted to adopt the first approach. He was worth $7.2 billion when he died after giving stakes in his SM Investments Corp. to his six children more than a decade ago, making all of them billionaires.
Li Ka-shing retired from CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. and CK Asset Holdings Ltd. last year, with his son Victor taking over the conglomerate. He recently brought in his 23-year-old granddaughter Michelle Li to the board of Chesterfield Realty, Inc., a family-controlled unit of CK Hutchison Holdings.
For other scions of ultra-wealthy families, it can mean intense struggles for who will take control. Stanley Ho, 97, split most of his fortune among his wives and children in 2011 to settle a family dispute, but members of Ho’s family, including his eldest daughter Pansy, are still embroiled in a decade-long battle for his Macau casino empire. — Bloomberg

IC issues guidelines on outsourcing activities

THE INSURANCE Commission (IC) issued new guidelines on outsourcing business activities and processes of insurance companies.
According to Circular Letter 2018-72, insurers shall be ultimately responsible to their policyholders for any outsourced activities and for ensuring that the outsourced activities are conducted in a safe and sound manner.
Business process outsourcing (BPO) providers contracted by insurers are not allowed to conduct solicitation activities or perform loss adjustment. These should only be done by insurance firms, licensed agents and brokers.
Solicitation activities are actions deemed to persuade a person to purchase an insurance product. These activities include explaining the benefits or terms of a contract as well as filling out application forms in behalf of the client.
On the other hand, loss adjustment is the determination of the amount to be paid based on the claim of the insured.
Based on the new circular, BPO providers are also prohibited from deciding whether or not to underwrite risks and approve an insurance or reinsurance claim. IC also mandated insurance companies as well as BPO providers to observe and comply with data privacy laws in the collection, holding, processing and use of the clients’ personal information.
Amid their highly complex business environment, hiring BPO providers can be of great help to the insurance industry as it can stimulate and facilitate the productivity of the insurance companies, the IC said in a statement on Wednesday.
Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa said the new regulations are aimed at making sure insurance firms follow guidelines to protect the interest of the insured public and strengthen the insurance industry at the same time.
“The new regulation was issued in recognition of the benefits that can be realized by insurers and reinsurers in the outsourcing of their business process,” Mr. Funa was quoted as saying in the statement.
He added that insurance companies can benefit from outsourcing their non-core businesses to third-party firms in order to focus and improve the efficiency of the in-house staff.
“We recognize that insurance companies can benefit from outsourcing their business processes such as improved productivity of existing operational capacity and trimmed down overall capital expenditures.” — K.A.N. Vidal

Netflix lets users share titles via Instagram stories

Netflix IG Stories 1
NETFLIX IS now letting users share what they’re watching through Instagram stories via the mobile app.
The feature is initially being rolled to iPhones, with sharing on Android and Snapchat to be added “later,” Netflix said in a statement.
To use this feature, Netflix users can go to the app on their iPhones, select a title, and then using the share option on the title’s page, select share to Instagram Stories. Members will be able to add that titles custom art in the Instagram story, which can also be shared to friends as a direct message.
Netflix IG Stories 2
“The story remains visible for 24 hours and provides a “Watch On Netflix” link back to the title page within the Netflix app,” Netflix said.
“We’re always on the lookout for ways to make it easier for members to share the Netflix titles they’re obsessing about and help them discover something new to watch. We hope our members enjoy this new feature!” said Leigh Wong, Netflix’s Head of Communications for Southeast Asia.
Netflix currently has 139 million paid memberships in over 190 countries.

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